What are hard skills?

Despite the fact that, there are much more information and examples of soft skills, hard skills are vital for business and professional development.

What exactly hard skills mean?

These are teachable abilities that can be defined and measured much more than soft skills. Hard abilities are easy to quantify. Soft abilities are personal-driven and subjective skills.

Some of the best examples of hard skills are a degree or certificate, foreign language knowledge, programming, mathematics, and etc.

Hard skills require specific knowledge! It is where comes the main difference with soft traits. For better understanding hard skills vs soft skills connection see the infographic at the end of this post.

Good examples of soft skills are communication skills, leadership, adaptability and problem-solving skills.

So, as you see it is really hard to measure and quantify soft abilities. But on the other hand, hard abilities are much more measurable.

As the hard skills are much more evaluated, it is easier for the companies to compare job candidates according to their hard knowledge and abilities.

With this in mind, you have to put in your resume or CV a really good list of your qualities, certificates and other documents that prove your hard skills!

Soft skills related to your personal characteristics and traits are difficult to prove but play a very important role in the company’s decision to hire a candidate for a particular job position.

Business Dictionary defines soft skills such as “Communicating, conflict management, human relations, making presentations, negotiating, team building, and other such ability, defined in terms of expected outcomes and not as a specific method or technique such as statistical analysis.”

Which skills are more important – hard or soft?

Of course, both of them are equal.

Balance is the best answer here. Make sure that your resume and CV contain enough skills of the both types.

Hard Skills List

The particular hard skills list depends entirely on job position you are applying for. The following examples show better the hard skills vs soft skills difference and connection.

For Examples:

If you are applying for a software developer, some of the best hard skills are the ability to use one or more development language such as Java, C++, Smalltalk, PHP, .NET, and etc. Examples of a software developer soft skills are the ability to work successfully in a team, good communication skills, etc.

If you are a project manager, you can list in your CV hard skills such as expert knowledge of project management methodologies as the Waterfall or Agile, business analysis knowledge, certifications as PMP, PRINCE etc. Hard skills are important for working with different types of PM software such as Project Management Tools, Risk Management Tools, Workflow Management Software, and Gantt Chart Software. Project manager skills also include knowledge for different UML diagram types. Important soft skills of a project manager are leadership skills, communication skills, problem-solving abilities, decision-making and etc.

For bakers, important hard skills are the ability to work with operating kitchen equipment and to have specific knowledge of different cook methods. Important soft skills: attention to detail, flexibility, adaptability, willingness to learn.

Although needed abilities depend on the job position, there are some common hard skills that are very popular in our high-tech ages. Here is a list of them:

Data Analysis Analyzing some kind of data is a common part of many job positions and responsibilities. Big data is a key resource for many big data companies and businesses. So, it is obvious that data analysis is among the most common hard skills required. In addition to that, you need knowledge for working with a range of software and tools such as data visualization software and flowchart software and etc. There are many reasons to learn data analysis: want to start a new career, want to develop your hard skills in your current career, or you want to know how to use, collect, analyze, and present data for any purpose. If you have one of the above reasons, here are 2 important courses that can help:1) Complete Introduction to Business Data Analysis:2) Data Science A-Z: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included The both of the above courses are with a very high level of customer reviews and at an absolutely affordable price.

Knowing Foreign Languages Although English is the official business correspondence language for many countries, it is a big advantage to know other languages. Examples of the most required languages are German, Spanish, French, Chinese.

Planning Skills – these abilities are in a tight connection with many professions and business fields such as marketing, project management, engineering, business analysis, sales, logistics, construction, and etc. Also, there is a good range of tools and techniques for good and effective planning that you can learn to use.

As we mentioned above, hard and soft skills are of equal importance. They complement each other.

Here is a list of the most common and valuable soft skills required in a wide number of job descriptions:

Communication skills

Leadership skills

Adaptability and flexibility

Problem-solving

Decision-making

Creativity

Team-working

Time management skills

Willingness to learn

Useful Tips:

When you are considering what type of hard abilities to include in your resume look at the job description qualification section. This is the place where companies list the required degree, certificates, and technical skills.

Always attach your certificates when applying for a job. Certificates are the proof for your hard skills!

If you are learning something new or attending courses at the moment of the application, put them on your CV too. They develop your skills and qualifications and increase your opportunities to win the job.

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About the Author Marin Valchev

Marin Valchev, PMP is an IT Project Manager with more than 10 years of experience. He implements cutting-edge technology in a wide-range of Financial and TELCO companies in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Marin shares his knowledge of software, analysis, project management and other business areas.

Laura

The overall content is relevant and helpful, and the graphics are pleasing – well done! As a fellow professional, I would like to humbly and delicately suggest this content be edited for some grammar and spelling issues. You have great material here! Typos and errors detract from your content, however, and I hate to see that when you’ve put so much into sharing this. Best, Laura